


Dinomorphs One: Genesis

by Gryphinwyrm7



Series: Dinomorphs [1]
Category: Animorphs
Genre: Dinosaurs!, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21582025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gryphinwyrm7/pseuds/Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: Jason, Emily, Melissa, and Menderash...Not a team...Yet. But thrown together anyway, in order to try and stop a threat greater than anything the galaxy has ever known. A disease that thinks. There might be a cure, on a long-forgotten out-of-the-way planet...But that planet hides more secrets than just those the doctors left behind.
Series: Dinomorphs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555432
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**One: Genesis**

**1\. Prologue  
**   


My name is Marco. Yeah that's right. The Marco, Marco Rodriguez, Marco the Animorph. It was a dumb mission, a very dumb mission in a long history of dumb missions. Of course that meant it was being done for the right reasons.

We had stolen one of the Yeerk prototype ships that had been left in orbit. By "we" I meant the Animorphs. The new team consisted of me, my best bud Jake Berenson, and Tobias Fangor. We also had with us Janine Gerard, and Sergeant Mitchell Santorelli. And an Andalite Nothlit trapped in human morph named Medernash-Postil-Fostil.

Cassie Freeman had stayed behind on earth. That was Jake's call, not mine, but I think it was the right call.

"Transfer power to the engines," Jake said. "Ram the Blade ship"

"Jake, buddy," I said cautiously, "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"It's our only option," Jake said. Medernash immediately powered the ship up and charged. There was a massive shudder throughout the whole ship. The screen went blank. Ax's mutated face was no longer visible.

"Damage report," I yelled. Medernash responded in thought-speak. (We've lost auxiliary thrusters, communications and we're venting atmosphere on C and D decks,) The Andalite nothlit turned and smiled at me. (Other than that, Marco we are fine.)

"What about the Blade ship?" Jake demanded. Tobias fluttered over to a nearby consol.

(It's dead in the water,) he said. (They took more damage than we did.)

"That's good right?" Janine said.

"Depends," I said grinning. "It depends on what Jake says next."

"Prepare to board the Blade Ship," Jake said as he got to his feet.

"Like that," I said, "That's not good, in fact that's insane! God I miss the action sometimes."

Janine smiled and winked at me. Dang she was cute. Then she turned and moved toward the hatch door.

"Docking procedure commencing," Medernash said. "We are now attached to the Blade ship."

"Oh goody" I said sarcastically.

"Janine, Mitchell," Jake said as he joined them at the airlock. "What was the first assignment I gave you?"

"Acquire the three B's sir," Santorelli responded. "Bird, Battle, Bug."

"Good," Jake said. "Refresh my memory. What are your battle morphs?"

"I have a Komodo Dragon," Santorelli said. Janine smiled that supermodel smile of hers. "Snow Leopard, is that good?"

"It'll have to do," I said. "Suit up, we're headed for battle."

I focused my mind on the image of Big Jim the Gorilla. He'd been my battle morph for so long. In fact Big Jim had been my first morph. We'd been through a lot together that gorilla and I.

"Hope this isn't my last battle," I muttered as the morph overtook my human body.

Tobias was morphing too. He'd become large and white, a polar bear. Tobias's homage to Rachel, a bear morph.

I saw Medernash watching Tobias morph. They were so alike, Tobias and Medernash, both nothlits but Tobias could morph. Medernash could not.

(Let's put some tail into them,) Medernash said in thought-speak. He raised a shredder and slipped up behind the menagerie that was us. A Siberian Tiger, an African Silverback Gorilla, a Snow Leopard, a Polar Bear, and a Komodo dragon.

(Just like old times eh?) I said.

Jake said nothing to me. (Medernash, open the door.)

The former Andalite nodded and pressed the red square to the right of the doorway. It slid open and the six of us stepped through the airlock to the Blade ship.

I'm not sure what I expected, because it certainly wasn't what we saw. There were brown vines or roots or something covering the walls like a network of spider-webs. The vines somehow managed to miss the doors and moved around them. They covered the floors too, although you couldn't see them, I felt them under my feet. There was a white mist layer, about and inch thick that covered the floor. It smelled like ammonia to my Gorilla nose.

(Well that's unusual,) Tobias said, bending down and sniffing the floor with his polar bear nose.

(This is rather unexpected,) Medernash said. (The bridge is this way, that's where War-Prince Aximilli will be….I hope.)

(All right then,) I said. (Let's go rescue the Ax-man.)

We moved through the corridor slowly, however after we turned the first corner we were greeted with a sight that one does not usually see on an alien spaceship: a cape buffalo.

(Uh oh!) Jake yelped as he dodged the enormous bovine. It slammed into me and I grasped its horns. A buffalo and a gorilla wrestling. HA! Let's see them show _that_ on the Discovery Chanel.

The buffalo's momentum slammed me up against the wall. It wasn't enough momentum to kill me though. I twisted my arms and overturned the cow. Santorelli moved surprisingly fast and sliced the buffalo through the stomach with his Komodo dragon claws.

(Com' on let's MOVE,) he said. I clambered over the dying buffalo and followed the others into the bridge of the Blade ship.

On the bridge was where the real fight began. We charged in, the Ax-man was there all right. Still warped and mutated a red rimmed mouth at the bottom of his delicate Andalite face. His left arm was different too. It had warped into something like an enormous pincer.

"You cannot resist," he said calmly. "You will all be a part of me, you pathetic creatures you."

(I think not,) I said. That's when the attack came. A pair of lionesses leapt onto my back, and something that looked like a Hork-Bajir attacked Jake. With my gorilla strength I pulled the big cats off of me and bashed their heads together. I saw Santorelli grappling with the Hork-Bajir out of the corner of my eye, but it was not my primary concern.

I moved closer to Ax.

"You fool!" The One said using Ax's mouth. "Resistance is useless. I am The One! You shall be part of me."

(Save it for the Villain of the Year awards,) I snapped, I swung my hand and slapped Ax. He went down like a piñata. I hefted him up by his tail and swung him over my shoulder. I turned towards Jake to tell him mission accomplished when a large white furry animal slammed into me hard.

(Tobias, man.) I yelped. (What the Hell?)

(It wasn't me man,) Tobias said. I glanced at the thing that hit me. It was a polar bear, but it was not a polar bear. I mean, by all appearances it could have been a polar bear, except for the blades. It had Hork-Bajir blades coming out of every part of its body that corresponded with a Hork-Bajir blade.

(He's mine,) Tobias said.

(We've got a score to settle,) Jake said, as the Tiger and the polar bear circled the "polar-bajir".

(Be my guests,) I said. (Me and the Ax-man here, though, we've got a date with _The Rachel._ Janine, Santorelli, you coming?)

I glanced over at them. They stood over a pair of dead lionesses, and a dead Hork-Bajir—ish thing.

(Ready,) Santorelli said. The three of us bolted down the hallway, by the way, they don't look it, but Komodo dragons are fast. Ax slung over my shoulder, we rushed back into the airlock that lead to The Rachel. Medernash was already on board and waiting for us.

"We have a problem," he said.

(What?) Jake demanded. I dropped Ax into a heap on the floor and turned around. Jake was bloody and bruised. Tobias's white fur was so red that at first glance you would have thought that he was supposed to be red. His left forepaw was missing. Sliced clean off.

The airlock rushed closed.

"We have detached from the Blade Ship," Medernash said. "But the ship is still operating on its own."

"How?" Jake asked, semi-demorphed. "We killed everyone on the bridge. There's no way that ship should still be operating."

The screen came on and we saw the Blade ship turning towards us. We were now completely demorphed.

"The Blade ship is powering weapons, and our auxiliary thrusters are still out. We're sitting ducks my Prince."

A small light on the pilot's consol began blinking, Medernash turned and examined it. "A Z-Space window is opening approximately one light-year from our present location. A ship is exiting. I am unfamiliar with the design."

The screen split in half to reveal another ship appearing out of the Z-Space window. It looked like a giant blue manta ray. It had three "stingers" where the manta stinger would be. It propelled itself through space by spinning these three "stingers" like propellers. It had two domes on top that were clearly "eyes" or windows. It was larger than The Rachel and the Blade ship, but smaller than a Pool ship or an Andalite Dome ship. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

The Blade ship suddenly panicked. It turned and pulled away opening a Z-Space window and disappearing into the blank nothingness of Zero-Space.

"The unknown ship is hailing us," Medernash said, "Audio only."

Jake nodded. A thick deep voice speaking English played through the ships speakers.

"This is Commander Pel-Tak of the Kelbrid assault vessel _Ananias._ Hailing the Animorph vessel _The Rachel._ Are you in need of assistance?"


	2. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason Grant and his best friend Emily Wu rescue a teenage Andalite from a Yeerk Assassin.

**Chapter One**

My name is Jason. Jason Grant actually. See I'm not like the Animorphs, it doesn't matter if you know my last name or not, because I'm not on the earth anymore. And besides, The One knows who I am, and even if it didn't know who I was, it wouldn't matter because that's not how The One operates. Subtlety is not The One's cup of tea if you get my drift.

You're probably wondering "The One?" What the heck is "The One"? Well there's a good reason you don't know what The One is. The government doesn't want you to know. I disagree with the President's decision to not reveal the existence of the One to the general population, but he's not the only one. The Andalite Electorate has also decided not to tell their general population about the One. This was the suggestion that the Kelbrid made. Yeah, you haven't heard of them either.

But I digress, you see the best way to tell this long and complicated story, is to begin at the beginning.

It all started in the St. Louis Mills. (There's another thing that separates me from Jake Berenson, I am not afraid to tell you that I live in St. Charles Missouri child of Kevin and Melinda Grant. I'm seventeen years old and I have two sisters and one brother)

Anyway it started in the St. Louis Mills, ironic eh? It always starts in a mall. I was hanging out with my best friend in the world…Emily Wu.

That's right my best friend is a girl. We've been best friends since we were seven. She's Chinese-American and has got long black hair. She's a notorious flirt and doesn't have any qualms about taking a love em' or leave em approach to guys.

In fact, technically I'm the longest relationship that she's ever had. Her dad's a pastor, and when you're a PK (Pastor's Kid) there are two roads you can take. Rejecting everything your parents taught you, and becoming a rebel. Or you can be a good girl, a sweet little angel.

Emily fell somewhere in between. She's a heart-breaker, and she knows it and likes it. Literally her favorite pastime is playing with guys emotions. She tries to do it to me too; fortunately I've known her for ten years. I'm immune.

We were outside of Spencer's Gifts, we were trying to find a Christmas gift for Emily's older bother, and he's hard to shop for.

"Did you hear that Lilly is cheating on Johnny Collins," Emily said as we left Spencer's, another bust. "With his brother!"

"No Emily," I said, "I don't pay attention too or care about the school gossip."

"But Jason," Emily said. "It's so much fun!"

"Too much drama for me," I said shrugging as I saw a pair of Andalite tourists go past. "I've got enough drama with you as my best friend."

"And don't you forget it!" she teased.

I glanced at the Andalite tourists as they entered a candy shop. You can always tell an Andalite in human morph. First of all, it's now illegal on both earth and the Andalite world to acquire a sentient being, so all Andalites with human morphs actually have _Frolis Maneuvers_ of human DNA. You know, multiple DNA patterns combined to create one morph. The merchants who sell their DNA for such combos are often out of work actors or supermodels, so the Andalite morphs are often bizarrely beautiful. In addition, the Andalites aren't that keen on the concept of clothing, so they're usually just wearing the minimum they can get by in, skintight leotards and such. Never any shoes.

Since Andalite tourism on earth was growing, the fast food industry was booming. They had raised their prices and the Andalites were still willing to pay.

Emily's hand smacking the back of my head snapped me out of my funk.

"Ow," I said groaning. "What was that for?"

"You were checking out that Andalite chick's butt!" Emily said.

I glanced at the Andalite female's human morph. I grinned sheepishly at my friend.

"Yeah so," I said. "Her human morph's got a nice butt, can't blame me for that."

"One," Emily said, "That's not even her real body, she looks like a freaky alien deer underneath that morph, and two you're here with me. I know that we're just friends and all but jeeze! It's tacky."

"Oh please," I said. "I see you check out guys all the time."

"Well maybe things have changed," Emily said. "Maybe I've found a guy who I want to have a more long term relationship with you know?"

I rolled my eyes as we turned towards the Borders. "Please Emily; your idea of a long term relationship is two weeks. That's the longest you've ever dated a guy before dumping him. You delight in playing with our hearts."

Emily looked hurt, but she shrugged it off.

"I hear that morphing is going to become more widely available soon," She said changing the conversation.

I nodded slowly, "God I'd love to be able to morph," I said. "It would be so cool to just change into a bird or a tiger or a dolphin or whatnot."

"Or a horse," Emily said. She and her family lived out on a ranch outside of town. They had three horses. "They're such gorgeous animals."

She stopped talking suddenly, she looked like she was going to say something else, but instead her face changed from one of a dreamy look to one of horror instead. I glanced over towards the Candy shop to see what she was looking at.

A six year old girl was morphing, warping and changing into a Hork-Bajir. The half Hork-Bajir half human raised a Yeerk Dracon beam and prepared to fire at the female Andalite I'd been checking out earlier.

I didn't think I just acted, bolting across the mall, and into the candy shop I slammed into the half-morphed girl. I knocked her down and the Dracon beam stuck a tub of Jelly Bellies instead of the Andalite. The Dr. Pepper flavored Jelly Bellies melted together.

The girl was more Hork-Bajir than girl now. She/He (For he had three horn blades coming out of his skull) hefted me up and threw me aside.

I groaned and got up. The now-fully-Hork-Bajir was ignoring me; he turned towards the Andalite girl and aimed the Dracon beam again. I bolted once more but this time I knocked the Andalite girl down, the Dracon beam narrowly missing the back of my head.

"What the…" she said as I knocked her down. The Hork-Bajir bellowed in rage and took aim again. I didn't hesitate, I was on my feet once again, and I dragged the Andalite girl to hers and pulled her out of the candy shop.

Emily ran over to us.

"Jason," she said sounding terrified, "He's trying to kill her."

"Yeah I know," I said. "Help me get her to safety."

"It's Zekal 216," The Andalite girl said sounding scared herself. "He's a paid assassin, a Yeerk."

"Yeah well that doesn't really matter now does it?" I asked as Emily and I pulled her through the mall.

"No you don't understand," she said. "His host is a morph-capable Hork-Bajir!"

I barely had enough time to think _what?_ Before I heard the sound of the Hork-Bajir bellowing. I glanced back and saw that he was in fact morphing again. He was becoming larger and his blades were dissipating. He was turning into a thirty-foot tall grey-colored monster with three fingers. It kind of reminded me of the Raincor from Star Wars.

Emily looked back at the creature the Hork-Bajir was now morphing.

"Aaaahhh!" She screamed, "What is that?"

The Andalite looked back as well.

(I believe it is called a _Jubba-Jubba_ it is from the Hork-Bajir home world. They are almost extinct thanks to the Yeerks.) She said in thought-speak. It kind of surprised me that she could think-speak in human morph.

The _Jubba-Jubba_ charged after us, knocking bridge-ways and people aside.

"Quick!" Emily hissed. "Into the movie theater."

I follower as we bolted past the ticket taker, who yelled "Hey!" then he saw the _Jubba-Jubba_. "Never mind!" and he bolted.

We ducked into one of the auditoriums, the one with that new pirate movie playing.

"Hey!" Emily said. "I haven't seen this yet!"

"EMILY!" I hissed. I turned to the Andalite girl. "Can't you demorph or something?"

She looked taken aback, as if the thought had just occurred to her. She began shifting and changing, a pair of Andalite stalk eyes erupted from her head.

It was then that the massive beast came charging through the wall. He snarled and we shot to the emergency exit. People screamed and bolted from their seats. The Andalite girl morphed fast, she was completely Andalite by the time we were outside.

(It's me he wants!) She said. She "sounded" terrified.

"Morph into a bird or something and fly away," I said.

(But the only bird morph I have is a _Kafit_ bird, and they're not really designed for earth's atmosphere.) She said.

"It'll have to do," I said. "Morph!"

She nodded and began to change. She did morph fast. She was out of the Mills parking lot long before the _Jubba-Jubba_ came charging out of the wall. He looked around. He saw us, but he didn't see her.

He let loose a tremendous roar in frustration. Then he began to demorph. The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

He continued morphing after he demorphed to Hork-Bajir. He became a Turkey Vulture.

(Know this human,) The Yeerk said. (I have never missed a kill until today. I will kill you someday. Zekal 216 never forgets a debt.)

With that he flew off, and Emily collapsed into my arms. She had fainted.


	3. Escafil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Emily meet the father of the Andalite who they rescued.

**Chapter Two**

I got home and collapsed onto my bed. I was exhausted. Saving an Andalite's life really takes it out of you. My sugar gliders crabbed at me from their cage.

I have pet sugar gliders. They're adorable little critters. Marsupials, like koalas or kangaroos. They look kinda like flying squirrels. But cuter. I have four. Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, and Angela. (Why yes, I am a nerd, thank you for asking.)

Their diet consists primarily of fruit, insects, and tree sap. I heard a barking sound outside, and decided to get up.

The barking was coming from my neighbor, Erica's house. Her family takes in all kinds of stray dogs. At any give time they could have between eight and fifteen. A lot of neighbors wouldn't put up with that, but fortunately, my parents thought it was a plus.

Today there were two German Shepherds, a Chihuahua, an Irish Setter, and a whole buncha mutts. Plus a new dog I hadn't seen before. She looked like a husky or a malamute or something I couldn't quite place.

"Hey Erica," I called. My neighbor, Erica, is this cute Jewish girl about a year younger than me. She has brown hair and freckles all over her face. "Who is the new girl?"

She grinned. "That's Lupa. She's a wolf."

"No way," I said as Erica bounced up to the fence separating our yards.

"Technically, she's a hybrid." Erica said. "1/16 Husky. But mostly wolf. Was part of an illegal puppy mill. We took her in. She may be 15/16ths wolf…But her personality is ALL dog. She's SUPER friendly."

As if to prove this point to me, Lupa bounded up to the fence, and gave me a big doggy kiss.

"Yuck!" I declared.

"So," she said. "You and Emily hung out at the mall today, right? Talk about anything important?"

"Not really," I said shrugging. "She wanted to meet up, and we were going to hang out at her favorite bookstore…But the alien assassin kinda got in the way."

"The WHAT?!" Erica asked.

I proceeded to tell her the entire story, as near as I could remember. As I did, she flipped out her iPhone and began checking the news stories online.

"You and Emily weren't identified," she said. "But the police and Andalite security forces are calling you very brave."

"Who was the Andalite I rescued?" I asked. "I never caught her name.

"They're not releasing it." Erica said. "Which means…It's probably somebody important."

"Cool," I said.

"Aren't you gonna come forward?" Erica asked.

"Are you kidding? That Yeerk assassin wants revenge. As long as the Andalite is okay, then I'm cool."

"You should still tell them who you are…Just in case."

"Nah," I said. "I'm good. Listen, I'm gonna go take a nap. Saving alien dignitaries is exhausting. Could you keep the doggy racket down to a minimum?"

"Oh don't worry," she said. "You won't hear a peep out of them again, I promise."

"Thanks, Erica," I said. "You're the best."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I was awakened by a loud knock on the door. I glanced at my iPhone, and checked the time. "1:47".

I had only been asleep for a few hours.

I grabbed my t-shirt and jean shorts and put them on. Staggering to the front door, and opened it.

It was an Andalite in human morph. Three things gave him away.

1) He was bizarrely beautiful. The obvious indicator of _Frolis Maneuvering_ of multiple DNA patterns of particularly beautiful people.

2) His clothes were inside out.

3) They were women's clothes. Specifically a sports bra and yoga pants.

"You know," I said. "It's a good thing you Andalites didn't have to do any infiltration of Earth society during the Yeerk War. You guys stick out like sore thumbs."

He sighed.

"I apologize," he said out loud. "I was hoping to be inconspicuous. But…This is my first use of the human morph, and my assistant procured the clothing for me."

"Female assistant?" I guessed.

He looked genuinely surprised.

"How did you know?"

"Male and female humans wear different types of clothing," I said. "You have a male body…But are wearing women's clothes. It's a dead giveaway that you're an Andalite in morph."

He sighed again. "Thank you…I shall have my assistant procure appropriate clothing for the morph."

"Is this the residence of 'Jason Grant'?" he then inquired.

"Uh…" I said. "That's me."

"Excellent," he said. "My name Orezebbicus-Jurran-Orelios, and I am with the Andalite Embassy Security."

"I…Oh, uh…" Stuttered.

"It is my understanding that you saved a young Andalite's life this afternoon."

"Uh…Yeah," I said. "How did you…"

"It is my job," he said. "I am responsible for Embassy security."

"Oh," I squeaked.

"The Andalite you saved was Estreen-Roonwit-Kanan," He said. I frowned. That name sounded extremely familiar…But Andalite names were so long, that sometimes it's hard to place them right off.

"Her father would like to thank you in person," Orezebbicus said. "If you would come with me please."

It was then that I noticed a small Andalite shuttle parked in the street. It had neatly parked behind my neighbor's car, and I hadn't noticed it right away.

"Uh…Sure."

I grabbed my sandals out of the house shoe tree and followed the Andalite to the shuttle.

Inside, he rapidly demorphed, and gestured for me to sit down on a side bench that had clearly been installed for human use.

The shuttle took off, and a few minutes later landed outside Emily's farm.

Emily laughed for five minutes straight upon seeing Orezebbicus's human morph's outfit.

Then the shuttle took off with both of us inside and flew to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which was the location of the St. Louis Andalite Embassy.

Andalites had a thing for gardens, and most of the embassies they had set up on earth had been placed inside botanical gardens in various major cities.

Part of the Missouri Botanical Gardens had been cleared away and the dome of an Andalite Dome Ship had been plopped down in the cleared spot.

There were more than a dozen Andalites just chilling out, inside and outside the dome. Running around, eating, I suppose, the grass.

I glanced at Emily, and she smiled back at me nervously.

(Come this way, Please,) Orezebbicus said, and began leading us to a nearby building.

I grabbed Emily's hand and gave it a squeeze before following Orezebbicus.

We entered what appeared to be a laboratory, filled with a number of animals. Mostly snakes. I felt a tingling sensation…The snakes were watching us.

They lazily looked up at us enter, and then went back to sunning themselves. They were all fairly large snakes too. Anacondas I think. My mind raced. _Didn't the Taxxons on earth all choose to permanently morph anacondas?_

There were other animals too. Parrots, a few other birds, a nearby fish tank had an octopus in it.

Standing at the far end of this animal-filled lab was the biggest Andalite I had ever seen. He was at least as tall as a Hork-Bajir, around seven feet, including his stalk-eyes. And he was built like a body-builder. Extremely muscled and buff. I was shocked, really. Every Andalite I had seen before had been so delicate and slender. This guy looked like he could arm-wrestle Chuck Norris.

(Is this them?!) He thought-spoke, grinning in that mouthless way that Andalites do.

(Yes, father,) A voice replied. I noticed then that the Andalite who we had rescued earlier was also in the room.

(Wonderful!) He said. And barreled over to the two of us, and scooped us up into a bear-hug.

"Andalite who is a hugger," Emily said. "That's…That's a new one."

(You saved my daughter's life,) He said. (I had to meet you. I had to thank you in person.)

"It was our pleasure," I said. "Really. Not that big a deal. Anyone would have done it."

(But _anyone_ did not do it,) he said, his eyes twinkling. (You did. And that merits my thanks.)

"Well…" I started to say.

(WONDERFUL, we are agreed then.) He said. (I shall give you the morphing technology.)

"We were just—," I started to say, then stopped. "Wait…What?"

"Seriously?" Emily said.

(Of course. You do want it, don't you?)

"Of course I do!" I said, my mind racing. "It's all I've wanted since the Andalites first came to earth and the Animorphs became public knowledge."

"Wait, wait…" Emily said frowning. "I thought that for a human to get morphing technology it had to be approved by both the Earth and Andalite governments. And there's supposed to be a lengthy application process, and psychological profiles and—"

(Oh not for me,) he said, still grinning. (I have full discretionary ability to grant the morphing technology to whomever I want. It's one of the perks of being me.)

(Ahem,) Orezebbicus said. The thought-speak version of clearing their throat.

(May I introduce, War-Prince Ambassador, Escafil-Roonwit-Nothlit.)

"Holy crap!" I said. That was one Andalite name I did know, and knew it well.

"You INVENTED the morphing technology!" I said.

(So you see,) He said, still grinning. (The Andalite government does not question to whom I grant my technology. It is mine, to do with as I see fit.)

"He…Invented morphing?" Emily squeaked.

(Well, it was a group effort,) Escafil's daughter, Estreen, commented. (But my father was the primary developer. )

(I originally invented it,) he said. (As a means of opening minds. So many Andalites are so focused on their own culture, they fail to see the beauty of others. Our galaxy is filled with amazing creatures, so many species…It is truly mind-blowing. I wanted our kind to see things from the perspective of others. But alas…No sooner had I invented the technology, then the Yeerk-War broke out. My superiors saw it as a weapon…But even then, it was barely used by any of my people. The entire military was outfitted with my morphing technology, and on average they only acquired two morphs each.)

Estreen walked over to her father and put her hands on his shoulders, comforting…But I also got the sense that she'd heard this before. A LOT.

(But you humans…Oh you humans. When I found out that my dear friend Prince Elfangor, had used the cube I gave him to imbue five humans with the technology…My hearts leapt. Your world was already famous among biological circles. Earth has the greatest diversity of life anywhere in the known galaxy. Billions, TRILLIONS of species. I knew that if any species would appreciate my technology…Yours would. Nor was I disappointed. Your Animorphs used my technology in ways that even I never dreamed of. You used the diversity of life of this planet to win a war that the entire Andalite Electorate hadn't been able to win in 40 Earth-years. You made peace with the Taxxons. You found a way for the Yeerks to live lives without taking hosts. You did everything I hoped my people would do with my technology but did not.)

"Wow," I said, slightly dumbfounded. "Well when you put it that way…"

(It's not so impressive when you hear him say it to literally every human that we meet.) Estreen said to us. I'm pretty sure it was private-Though-Speak, since Escafil had not reacted to it.

(Seriously,) She said, looking at us pointedly. (Every. Human. He. Meets.)

Emily and I burst into giggles, and Estreen seemed to relax. For all the impressive nature of the Andalites, and the fact that she was Escafil's daughter…I got the sense that she wanted to be a regular teenager. And…That was pretty cool.

(Now then,) Escafil said, walking over towards a shelf that I had just now noticed. The shelf had four Escafil Devices on it. At least…I think that's what they were. One was the standard blue that I had read about. But there was also a green, a red, and a jet black cube. I had no idea what that was about.

He picked up the green cube.

(The prototype?) Estreen commented.

(Why not?) Escafil said grinning. Emily nervously took my hand and squeezed it.

"Is it true," Emily asked quietly. "The you've managed to extend the time limit to four hours?"

I blinked and looked at Emily in surprise. I hadn't heard that.

(No, it is not true.) Escafil said.

We both drooped slightly in disappointment.

(I have extended it to seven hours and forty-two minutes.) He said.

Our eyes widened in shock, but we said nothing.

(The green cube grants those who touch it the extended time-limit morphing, as well as upgrades those who have the orginal blue cube version.)

"What are the other two?" I asked.

(The red cube is still in the testing phase, but don't ever touch it. Period. Don't. Touch. It. Ever. Even when it's finished, don't touch it. It's an Anti-Morphing cube. It is meant to lock morph-capable criminals in a single morph…Trapping them forever. Like the Yeerk who tried to murder my daughter. Which he likely did BECAUSE of the tech's existence. But it doesn't work properly yet. And the side effects are nasty.)

"Okay," I said, frowning. "Noted. SO noted."

"And the black one?" Emily asked.

(A surprise.) His eyes twinkled.

He then held out the green cube towards us. Emily and I exchanged a glance, and then took a deep breath.

We placed our hands on the cube.


	4. Sugar Glider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason does his first morph.

**Chapter Three**

I returned home after the Andalite shuttle dropped Emily off, grinning like an idiot.

(So,) Escafil had asked. (You know have the power to morph. What do you want to morph?)

Emily and I had spent so much time fantasizing about how to GET morphing, that we had never actually put much thought into what animals we wanted to acquire.

We started rattling off random names.

"Peregrine Falcon!" I had said.

"Duck-Billed Platypus" Emily shouted.

"Tasmanian Tiger," I said.

Emily smacked me in the stomach. "Those are extinct, you doof, you can only acquire from living animals."

"Right, right…" I said. "Wasn't thinking…I just want to acquire something…Special. Something amazing that isn't a commonplace morph, you know?"

(Peregrine Falcon, Duck-Billed Platypus, and something special,) Escafil said. (I believe I can accommodate you. Please return to the embassy tomorrow.)

And so, we went home. Two teenagers, now imbued with the power to become any animal we touched.

I kept pinching myself the whole flight home, just checking to see if I was awake or asleep.

I couldn't wait to try morphing. And I knew exactly what I wanted my first morph to be.

I walked into the house and saw my sister in the living room, watching TV. It was PBS, the Kratt Brothers newest show.

Since the advent of the Andalites, certain humans had been granted access to the Morphing technology, under certain restrictions. The Military, and certain government agencies. And 500 scientists of various biology, zoology and ecological bents.

Chris and Martin Kratt had been among those 500. They now had a live-action tv show on PBS, where they went out into the wild, acquired animals, and taught kids watching about the creatures they acquired. It was as cheesy as any live-action PBS show is, but the Kratts really did morph into the animals they encountered, and it was enrapturing. Highest rated kids show in the country.

Lexie was no exception. Heck, I watched with her half the time. This episode was a repeat. The Kratts were doing a racing challenge using cheetah, wolf, thompson's gazelle, and pronghorn morphs. It was a fun episode, that highlighted the various animal's abilities.

"Morphing's pretty cool, huh, Lexie?" I said grinning.

"Morphing is the COOLEST!" my little sister squealed back. "I mean…Have you been living under a rock these past few years?"

"Excellent," I said. I grabbed her hand. "I wanna show you something."

"But the show's not over yet!"

"You've seen this one before," I countered. "Trust me…I have something cool to show you."

Something in my tone must have caught Lexie's attention, because she immediately followed me to my room. I closed the door behind her and then ran to my sugar glider cage.

I reached in and scooped up Brooklyn, who was easily the surliest of my four gliders. But I didn't care. He crabbed at me, angrily. The sugar glider's natural defense is their ability to "crab" when annoyed or threatened. They unleash a gurgling noise that is much louder than you would think possible from a creature roughly twice the size of a mouse.

Brooklyn's crabbing ceased though, as I focused my mind on him, his DNA passing from him to me. The famous acquisition trance.

Lexie recognized it too, because she whispered in awe, "No way…"

I just grinned. I knew from reading that acquiring DNA took exactly one minute. From there, the trance would remain until ten seconds after physical contact was broken. I just concentrated on Brooklyn for that entire minute, before gently releasing him on the floor of the glider cage.

The moment I broke contact, Lexie began counting down, still in an awed whisper. "Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…"

I smirked and closed the cage door.

Brooklyn suddenly snapped out of his funk and hopped up the cage wall and back into his sock-pouch, dangling from the roof of the cage. He was snuggling up safe and warm with the rest of his family. Sugar Gliders are nocturnal. They disliked being out and about in the daylight.

"Ten seconds…" Lexie whispered. "It can't be…"

"Oh…" I said grinning. "But it is."

I focused my mind and began to morph.

It's funny…You read about something, and you think you know it…But nothing quite prepares you for what it's like in real life.

I knew that shrinking felt like falling, from reading about it…But I had never experienced that until just now. I just started shrinking…Falling towards the ground.

"Whoa!" I said out loud, but thankfully managed to not break my concentration.

Andalite morphing tech had been upgraded to be more human-friendly shortly after they started sharing it with us…So my t-shirt and shorts were absorbed into my skin as fur began to sprout all over my body…My sandals however, refused to morph with me. No matter how many times the Andalites tinkered with the morphing cubes, they still couldn't figure out how to do shoes.

Which, frankly, made sense. Andalites don't wear clothes, and the fact that the Animorphs had figured out how to morph certain forms of clothing was actually a bizarre glitch in the technology…Specifically with the Zero-Space hyper-link that allowed the deposit and absorption of mass to and from Z-Space.

The Andalites had exacerbated the glitch on purpose, at the request of the human governments, when they presented us with the technology.

My morph continued undeterred, as my skin between my arms and my legs became loose and baggy. The folds that would allow the glider to…Well…Glide.

My spine began to extend behind my back…Stretching into the glider tail.

I felt my face begin to bulge out, my nose turning pink and my jaw stretching. My ears began traveling up the side of my head until they were perched atop. I suddenly lost my balance and fell forward, onto all fours. My hands shifted…My fingernails becoming sharp claws, and my fingers (and toes) shifting into grasping paws. Built for climbing up high, and gliding.

I stopped shrinking, and my sister towered above me. She had been quiet throughout the entire process, enraptured by the visual of me transforming into an animal in front of her.

My senses suddenly came online. My sense of smell, much more sensitive now, I could smell fruit and Doritos all over the room. My hearing was sharper too.

Sight was mostly the same…But I could see in the dark far better than I could have as a human.

My sister suddenly shifted, and I panicked.

PREDATOR! PREDATOR!

Large creature moving towards me!

I bolted. As fast as I could…I was terrified. On the ground, a glider is vulnerable. Worst place to be. I needed to find someplace safe. Preferably a tree.

Suddenly, thick fingers, as thick as armrests grabbed me and picked me up. I was caught. The PREDATOR HAD ME.

Last ditch defense, I crabbed. A loud gurgling erupted from my throat…Though to me it sounded more like a close up of thunder rumbling.

"Jason!" Lexie said. "Get a grip! You're like the Kratts when they morph something new. The sugar glider instincts have taken over your mind. Focus on me. I'm your sister. You are human."

That snapped me out of it.

(Whoa!) I said. (That was…That was intense. You read about it…But dang…You don't know it until you do it.)

"My brother can MORPH!" Lexie said. "This is SO COOL. Wait until I tell all my friends, they are going to be so gell."

(That's good, right?) I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "How did you get morphing anyway? This was so obviously your first morph."

The sugar glider mind had calmed down a bit, now realizing Lexie was no threat. In fact…It now sort of just assumed that she was a tree. Or a member of the glider colony. Or both. It didn't really care, but it didn't want to wait in her hand, so I started crawling up her arm.

(Well…I saved an Andalite's life at the mall today,) I said. (Seriously. No fooling. And it turns out that her dad invented morphing technology. So he gave it to me and Emily as a thank you.)

"Emily can morph too!" Lexie said. "That is so cool. I am so gell."

(Which is good, right?) I said.

"Totally."

The sugar glider mind was now absolutely convinced that Lexie was in fact, a tree. And since trees had sap, then this LexTree must have sap too. So, without thinking, I opened my mouth and bit Lexie's shoulder.

"Ow!" she snapped. "Jason! Don't bite me with your sugar glider morph!"

(Sorry…) I said. (Dang…These instincts really get the better of you if you're not paying attention.)

I leapt off of Lexie's shoulder, which comparatively, was like leaping off a four-story building, but it didn't even phase me when I hit the ground. I realized shortly after that, that the sugar glider instinct, and natural arboreal nature had overridden my usual fear of heights.

(Neat,) I said.

"What?" Lexie asked.

(In sugar glider morph, I'm not scared of heights anymore.) I said.

"Super-cool," she said.

I heard the door open downstairs.

(Mom's home,) I said.

"How do you know?" Lexie asked.

(I can hear her.) I said. (Glider senses. They're totally awesome.)

"Lexie, Jason, Peter," Mom called. "Come help me with groceries."

(I'm gonna demorph.) I said. (Don't tell mom yet!)

Lexie nodded and bounded out the door as I began to grow and resume human form.


End file.
